Pleat former



W. S. SHEE May 19, 1964 PLEAT FORMER Filed Jan. 29, 1962 INVENTQR William 5. $hu

A'I'I'ORN EY United States Patent 3,133,681 PLEAT FORMER William S. Shee, Woodbridge, Conn, assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Coma, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Jan. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 169,479 Claims. (Cl. 223-34) This invention is an improvement in a pleat former which is a tool normally used in the home to facilitate the manual forming of pleats.

The general object of my improvement is to provide a simple, inexpensive tool of the kind described, consisting preferably of only two pieces of sheet metal which are easily adjustable to accommodate various widths of pleats. The arrangement is such that the two parts can be readily snapped together after which they will be retained against accidental separation.

My improved arrangement and construction also provides two sets of markings to indicate first the width of the pleat to be formed and second, the spacing of the pleats from each other.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown for purpose of illustration, one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows my improved pleat former as it is first applied to the material in which pleats are to be formed;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the two pieces separated;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the back face of the pleater and indicating the position on the material after a pleat is formed; and,

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section on line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

The pleater consists generally of two pieces of sheet metal, the first being a flat back plate 5 which is of generally elongated rectangular shape preferably having one upper corner 6 beveled as shown. Depending from the intermediate portion of the lower edge of this back plate is a first leg 7 which is made rigid by a central indentation extending throughout its length. The second piece 8, also preferably formed of sheet metal, is mounted to slide against the front face of the back plate. It also has a depending second leg 9 which is made rigid in the same way as the first leg and extends parallel to the first leg, and also preferably being of the same length. This second piece has a long flat tongue or guide strip 10 extending along the mid-portion of the back plate perpendicularly to the legs 7 and 9.

The back plate carries means for slidably retaining this guide strip 10 so that the legs 7 and 9 may be moved toward and away from each other while maintaining their parallel relation. This is preferably accomplished by striking up a rectangular loop 11 from the back plate so that it is spaced from the front face of the back plate just enough to provide an eye just large enough to receive the guide strip 10 with an easy sliding fit. The fit is such that it prevents any substantial tilting of the front piece relative to .the back plate.

The front piece also has an extension 12 parallel to the tongue 10, which extension carries a flange 13 engaging the upper edge of the back plate. This further helps to stabilize the two parts against excessive tilting so as to maintain the legs in parallel relation. The flange 13 also is adapted to abut a stop lug 14 at the upper corner of the back plate so as to prevent accidental separation of the pieces.

A series of indentations or dimples 15 are formed in the front piece co-operating with a corresponding formed dimple 16 in the back piece so as to frictionally hold 3,133,681 Patented May 19, 1964 "ice the two pieces in a selected one of several adjustments. The front piece can also have a tab 17 for easier manipulation.

The tongue 10 has markings or graduations to indicate the width of the pleat, for example, from /2" to 1 /2" widths with A" intervals which correspond also to the spacing of the dimples 15. In the position shown, a l pleat will be made and this is indicated by the l" marking registered with the right-hand edge of the eye 11.

That portion of the back plate extending to the left of the leg 7 also carries markings to indicate the spacing of the pleats and in the position shown, the 1" mark is lined up with the edge of the pleat 18 which has previously been formed. With this arrangement, 1" pleats will be formed which will come together as indicated in FIG. 3.

The manner of use of the device will be readily understood. After adjusting the parts to the desired width of pleat, the legs 7 and 9 are placed over the material with the leg 9 in front of the material and the leg 7 in back of it and spaced from the preceding pleat by lining up the proper mark on the back plate with the previously formed pleat. Then the tool is turned in a counter-clockwise direction to the position shown in FIG. 3 which forms the pleat. Pins such as indicated at 19 may be used to retain the pleats after which the tool may be removed and the operation repeated.

In the initial assembly of the parts, the free end of the guide strip 10 is inserted into the eye formed by the rectangular loop 11 until the flange 13 strikes the lug 14. Then the outer end of the front piece may be pulled forwardly against the spring action of the guide strip to permit the flange 13 to pass around the lug 14, whereupon the flange will snap behind the lug and prevent accidental separation of the parts.

What I claim is:

1. A two-piece pleat former comprising (a) an elongated flat sheet metal back plate having a narrow rigid straight leg depending from its bottom edge intermediate the ends thereof;

(b) a front sheet metal piece slidably fitted against the front face of said back plate, said front piece having a downward extension providing a second rigid leg parallel to said first leg and an elongated guide strip extending along the front face of the back plate perependicularly to said legs; and

(c) integral means on said back plate engaging around opposite outer edges of said guide strip for slidably retaining said strip to allow movement of said legs toward and away from each other while maintaining their parallel relationship; the bottom edge of said back plate extending from and perpendicularly to its rigid straight leg in the direction of said guide strip to the front sheet metal piece a substantial distance equal at least to the width of a pleat to be formed.

2. A pleat former as defined in claim 1 and means for frictionally holding the front piece in a selected one of a plurality of adjusted positions relative to the back plate to provide the desired spacing of said legs, such means consisting of interengaging dimples formed in contacting portions of the front piece and back plate.

3. A pleat former as defined in claim 1 in combination with a flange extending from the top edge of one of the pieces overhanging the top edge of the other piece and a stop lug on such other piece engageable by said flange to prevent accidental separation of the pieces.

4. A pleat former as defined in claim 1 wherein the means (0) of claim 1 consists of a rectangularly shaped loop struck up from the back plate to provide a guide 8) eye for slidably receiving said guide strip on the front piece, the fit of said guide strip in said guide eye being such as to prevent any substantial tilting of the front piece relative to the back piece.

5. A pleat former as defined in claim 1 wherein indicia are provided on said guide strip to indicate the spacing of the outer edges of said legs, and wherein other indica are provided on the back plate to indicate the distance away from the adjacent leg.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hedges j Jan. 8, 1895 Grunwald Oct. 10, 1916 Peters et a1 Jan. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany July 7, 1921 

1. A TWO-PIECE PLEAT FORMER COMPRISING (A) AN ELONGATED FLAT SHEET METAL BACK PLATE HAVING A NARROW RIGID STRAIGHT LEG DEPENDING FROM ITS BOTTOM EDGE INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF; (B) A FRONT SHEET METAL PIECE SLIDABLY FITTED AGAINST THE FRONT FACE OF SAID BACK PLATE, SAID FRONT PIECE HAVING A DOWNWARD EXTENSION PROVIDING A SECOND RIGID LEG PARALLEL TO SAID FIRST LEG AND AN ELONGATED GUIDE STRIP EXTENDING ALONG THE FRONT FACE OF THE BACK PLATE PERPENDICULARLY TO SAID LEGS; AND (C) INTEGRAL MEANS ON SAID BACK PLATE ENGAGING AROUND OPPOSITE OUTER EDGES OF SAID GUIDE STRIP FOR SLIDABLY RETAINING SAID STRIP TO ALLOW MOVEMENT OF SAID LEGS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM EACH OTHER WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP; THE BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID BACK PLATE EXTENDING FROM AND PERPENDICULARLY TO ITS RIGID STRAIGHT LEG IN THE DIRECTION OF SAID GUIDE STRIP TO THE FRONT SHEET METAL PIECE A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE EQUAL AT LEAST TO THE WIDTH OF A PLEAT TO BE FORMED. 